Evaluation Question 2 - Cloé

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

• As well as a 60 second trailer my coursework group and I also had to create a website page and a poster which all had to effectively match one another. 

Reinforcing the Narrative

Trailer

• We included the protagonist's imaginary friend in all of our media texts. Firstly in the trailer we did this through chroma keying. When creating our initial ideas we were set on one thing, including chroma keying in our trailer. We shaped our trailer and package to this key thing so we could play around with new effects. 
• When first experimenting with chroma keying we used a smaller scale green screen and filmed with a mobile phone. This was extremely unprofessional but we were able to get to grips with how to work the chroma keying effect on Final Cut Pro through this.
• We encountered simple problems such as not wearing green during the shoot as those sections would be removed with the rest of the green background when editing. We also realised that lighting was key to a professional effect and we have to avoid shadows as much as possible. 
• Once we understood how to edit the footage we bought our own green screen and re-filmed with our camera on the tripod so it was steady as when initially filming our characters weren't in line with one another. This meant that when we combined them the videos both merged seamlessly and we were then able to progress into changing the background. We felt that chroma keying would encourage the audience to realise our protagonist was imagining these sequences. 
• At the end we had a sequence in which the imaginary friend would walk in and whisper into the protagonist's ear. This made our protagonist's schizophrenic explicitly clear to the audience. 
• We also then experimented further and started altering the backgrounds to more surreal, distorted images to explicitly show the audience these scenes are in our protagonist's mind. 

Poster

• Our poster also includes the imaginary friend, this required the use of photoshop to lift one aspect of an image and move it to the other side. We used the 'lasso' tool to cut out our protagonist sitting on the chair and move her over to the second image in the loft. After rubbing out the individual pixels around her and adding some shadows so that it didn't seem like it had been stuck on we had our completed image. 
• However, our initial image was landscape which did not suit our genre and so we had to alter it to portrait. After cutting both sides of the image and stretching it slightly to make it a4 the poster looked fine. 
• Our final product was professionally layered and reinforced the narrative with the  inclusion of the imaginary friend. The gaffer tape over our protagonist's mouth clearly tells the audience that she is being controlled by her mental illness and that she is not the villain but the victim. 

Website

• We also had the inclusion of the imaginary friend in the website image. 
• When first taking the image we had to use a tripod so the image would be stable and merging the two images wouldn't be difficult. 
• We had a focused image of our protagonist in the foreground so the audience was able to recognise who our main character was. 
• We then included the imaginary friend in the background, we did this by retaking the photo with our actor further away from the camera. We then ensured that she was out of focus, therefore showing that although our protagonist's mental illness isn't obvious its always in the background of her mind. 
• Finally, to add the psychological effect we added visual effects on the image and therefore our genre was clear. This was a gif which blacked the imaginary friend's face out occasionally, therefore adding in a surreal edge.  

Typography

Initial Typography

• Typography was one of the main areas which underwent many changes. To begin with a font was chosen called 'Dark Ages' which we all quite liked. We then experimented with manipulating the typography in photoshop by blurring the ends of the letters so they looked like they were turning into vapour. 

Development

• However we noticed quite quickly that although this did look creepy it did not really match our psychological genre at all and so we had to change it. 
• We decided to go for a typography called 'Old Style' which was manipulated to seem eroded with the effect 'wind' at a 'blast' level. This meant that the typography now suited our genre. Additionally we also used the transform tool to flip certain letters upside down and to make them inverted. This reinforces our genre further as its connotes that something isn't quite right, which is what our title states as well. 
• In order to ensure all our media texts were matching we had the same typography and effect on the website, poster and trailer.

Further Changes

• We then noticed we had different layouts of the title on the different texts, with the website having the title in white and in a single line, the poster having the title split up on three lines in black and the website having a mix of white and black on one line. This was bad for continuity and so we decided to change the title on the website on three lines and changed the colour to black. This meant that our products were seen as a package rather than separate pieces. 

Colour Scheme 

Initial Ideas

• Initially we started out researching different colour schemes for psychological genre, and decided that the two examples given were our favourite colour schemes which would accurately suit our genre. We felt the neon colouring would clearly state that our trailer was psychological, however we also felt that the bright white of clean, shaven linked in with hospitals and would demonstrate that our protagonist suffers from a mental illness. 

Development

• However when creating our website and poster images we strayed off from this as we felt that the content of the image was more important than the actual colours, and that our texts definitely came together as a package due to the presence of our protagonist and her imaginary friend in both images. 
• Despite this we did have a theme of high contrast, saturation and darkness which made our images come together and match. Both images were altered to seem more grimy and psychological, with dark shadows being highlighted and certain areas becoming harder to see (e.g. the imaginary friend in the background.) 
• We felt this was better than a 'colour scheme' as it was more professional. They did both follow a theme and have a similar texture to them, however the colouring is different.   
• Despite this we did maintain the same colour scheme of black and white for the title and tagline, so that there was one main area that was exactly the same, therefore completely tying all our products together. 
• This theme of black on white is also in the trailer with the titles and the final title at the end. 

Evaluation Question 3 - Cloé

3.)What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Feedback from the survey

• We initially sent out a survey to ask second opinions on the plot line of our trailer. From this we made many key decisions that were linked to our trailer.
• Firstly when creating our trailer we felt it would be effective if our protagonist was to be spied on, however deciding which camera would be best to do this on was difficult. This was one of our first questions to our audience.
• This feedback told us that the preferred camera would be a laptop camera and so we took this on board when filming the scene in which she is spied upon.

Development

• We took this on board when editing our footage from our bedroom scene as we
  realised that we have to make it obvious she was being recorded from a laptop. 
• This meant that we had to download a 'REC' sign and make it transparent through photoshop. Once we had done this we then imported it into iMovie in the corner of the video. 

• Secondly, we were unable to decide whether subtle or obvious discrimination would be better in order to correctly portray our message. When we asked our audience the majority of answers thought that a subtle type of discrimination would be preferred, we felt that this was better as it would show the audience that the trigger for mental illness doesn't always have to be obvious.

Development

• We took this on board when filming our footage and brainstormed different angles we could utilise to demonstrate that our protagonist had really been hurt despite the discrimination being quite subtle. 
• We did this through a close up of our protagonist's face, while our antagonist walked past the camera. This meant that it was clear the antagonist was leaving the room straight after the protagonist's mental breakdown, and the audience would then see the protagonist's expression and how this had impacted her. 
• We felt this was necessary if we were to include more subtle discrimination as otherwise it wouldn't have been noticeable that our protagonist was hurt and the meaning would have been lost. 

• Finally we weren't sure if having the protagonist wear a mask would be freakier for the audience. However when we asked them they felt that the imaginary friend shouldn't wear a mask or animal ears. We felt that this was also a good idea as if we had used a mask it wouldn't have been as obvious that we were using chroma keying for some of our scenes. 

Title

• We also gained feedback on what our title should be. 
• After giving our audience a selection of titles our trailer could be called, we clearly saw that the winner of these was 'Unhinged.' 
• We felt it was important to listen to the audience as the title is key to attracting attention from them. 

Feedback from YouTube comments

• We then completed our trailer and asked people to feed back on YouTube. This gave us a lot of helpful feedback. 
• One main issue that many picked up was the facebook scene as many said the mean comment that triggered our protagonist wasn't clear. Because this scene is crucial in understanding our trailer, the fact the audience were missing this because it wasn't clear meant they weren't able to fully understand. 

Development

• We therefore made this scene longer by a few seconds and had a close up of the keywords flash up along with non diegetic sound of 'freaking out in the library' so the message was clear.
• We this shot up for a few seconds after this so that it was completely clear, and then followed this by our protagonist slamming the laptop down to clearly show she was hurt by the comment. 
• By having her imaginary friend say 'Charley' we then clearly showed a link between her mental health and the discrimination. This demonstrated a cause and effect which was key to our meaning. 

• Secondly, people found it difficult to follow the story because they found the titles were too short, therefore we made them all two seconds long and shortened any transitions so they weren't taking away length from the titles. This meant people had enough time to read what was being said and full understand our narrative. 
• 
• Suggestions were also made about various other bits to cut out. For example one comment (shown above) stated that a shot where our antagonist goes towards the webcam makes it seem like the antagonist and the protagonist are friends and they are communicating. This is clearly not what we wanted to show as our antagonist was being spied on in that scene. Therefore we took this advice on board and removed that part of the scene.
• Comments were also made about how the montage scene was a bit unexpected due to the sound, for example they said that it jumped straight in without any warning. 

Development

• We therefore made tweaks to this so cinematic booms were introduced much earlier in the trailer. This meant having subtle deep bassy sounds throughout the bedroom scene, so we could slowly raise the tension. This proved problematic as we had to make sure the 'booms' were at the same point as the beat in the piano song we had in the background. In the lead up to the montage we had to slowly decrease the volume of the piano music as many found this was anti-climatic. We then inputted a high pitched 'whooshing' sound that increased the tension just before the montage therefore warning the audience of the climax that was coming up. The high pitch noise ended just as the booms began therefore leading the audience straight into the montage scene. This meant that the montage scene wasn't as unexpected and so it signalled to the audience that we were nearing the climax of the trailer. 

Evaluation Question 4 - Cloé

4.) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

• As a group we used many media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages of our media products. The points mentioned below are areas I personally did. 

Editing

Titles

Wording of the Titles

• Creating the wordings of the titles was a difficult task that the whole group had an input in. I came up with variations that we could use and as a group we attempted to alter these variations to suit the genre and narrative. Our titles needed to be obvious due to the fact our trailers's narrative was a bit complicated. The wordings of the titles was key to ensure the audience's comprehension of our trailer and so I spent a lot of time redrafting these phrases.
• Once we had the final wordings of the titles we could start making our titles.

Initial attempts

• When first experimenting with different styles of titles we drifted down a more slasher horror route which didn't match our genre.
• We started out by having an 'old paper' look for our background, the font we used looked like calligraphy and after using the 'smudge' tool looked like it was leaking down the page. We then added in blood splatters such as a hand and blurred the ink and blood together. Although these titles did seem rather effective, they did not match our genre at all and would have stood out when watching the trailer.
• We also edited these on photoshop and so they would have been still images, this would have meant that none of the words would  have been duplicated and they wouldn't have been very distorted. 

Development and creating our final titles

• When deconstructing films and trailers the titles for both Number 23 and Pi stood out to us and we felt like recreating a similar effect for our own trailer.
• For example throughout Number 23's trailer there were images and signs constantly flickering up onto the screen. We felt this had a psychological effect which would reinforce our trailer and so we attempted the similar effect on our titles.
• Pi's trailer had the words in the title double and smudge together, we felt this was also very effective and would reinforce our genre. The doubling of words clearly connote that something is mentally disturbed or something isn't right, and as our genre is a psychological thriller we felt this was suitable. 

• To create them I first opened final cut pro and chose a plain white background as we felt this would best match our colour scheme and general package. Then, using the same typography as the tagline 'Dark Ages' I wrote in the phrases I had created. 
• After this I decided that having our titles gradually get more and more distorted would reinforce our narrative as it would represent how our protagonist's mental illness gradually gets worse through the trailer.
• On the first three slides I applied effects called 'projector' and 'bad TV' and gradually increased the amount on each slide. In the final slide before the montage and climax I increased these effects to full and then repeated the word 'herself' which was layered over the title and was competely distorted.
• I also created the final title at the end of the trailer which said 'UNHINGED' and 'COMING SOON.' This required much more precision as I felt it would look effective if the title's colours were inversed for a milisecond before going back to the original title. I repeated this a few times and had to alter how long each slide would flash up for. I also applied 'projector' and 'bad TV' on both the background and the actual title so that the whole image looked completely distorted. So that this would have a lasting effect I layered the non diegetic sound 'metal impact' which was used throughout the trailer. This meant that the ending linked in with the rest of the trailer and the title was forceful when it appeared at the end.

Bedroom scene

• I also edited the scene in which our protagonist is stalking our antagonist with a partner. For this scene we felt that close up shots of our antagonist slipping on some tights would be effective as it would be quite an intimate shot, making the scene creepier.
• We also had a shot in which our antagonist was removing her nightgown, but cut it before the nightgown fell off so that the audience could understand what was going on.
• This was then cross cut with shots of our protagonist on her laptop watching our antagonist get dressed.  
• We had a contrast between shots taken from the laptop and shots that we took on teh camera due to the differing colour levels and levels of quality between the cameras. The hand held camera was also higher in saturation and so we felt that it added substance to this scene.
• We were able to achieve effective angles with the hand held camera such as an ariel shot of our antagonist drying her hair, this made the scene more dynamic and creepy. This scenes were cross cut with the full shot of the room filmed on the webcam.  
• I also had a part with the mise en scene of the bedroom, we completely changed the room to suit our character by removing all the books on the shelves and replacing them with makeup. We also asked all members to bring pink items and scattered shoes and bras around the room. Once we had done this we printed our images of Justin Bieber and One Direction and stuck them up on the walls. This meant that we could fully develop our character and were able to completely show what our antagonist was like to the audience. 
  
  
  Final Tweaks

• Finally I made additional tweaks throughout the whole trailer, for example using the trimming tool to cut down milliseconds off individual clips therefore making the whole trailer just over a minute.  

Audio

Audio of newsclips

• The audio in the montage scene was key in raising the tension for our final jump and had it been done badly our final scene in the loft would have seemed random and ineffective.
• We firstly felt that including the audio of newsclips in our montage scene and layering them so they became overpowering would be effective as it would allow the audience to experience what is going on inside our protagonist's head.
• In order to do this I had to research for these news clips, and after downloading them I had to select the part of the footage I wanted and detach the audio. This meant that I was free to place the audio wherever I wished. I duplicated a few of these clips and added in more. The types of news clips I chose were ones linked to mental health, for example one clip clearly stated 'schizophrenia.' This meant that our audio explicitly linked in to our narrative, so the audience would be able to understand our trailer is about mental illness.
• Once having layered all the sounds over one another I was finished with the structure of the audio. However I felt that it was missing something and some clips sounded too 'normal.' Therefore I experimented with various sound effects Final Cut Pro provide such as 'Monster' or 'Alien.' This meant that I was able to distort the voice and the overall montage scene would be creepier and would defintiely raise the tension. I then went about finding effects that created an echo so that these clips would really sound overpowering and would explain that our protagonist is tormented by her thoughts.

Cinematic 'booms'

• However even though the news clips I had inserted made the montage scene scarier, the scene was missing cinematic 'booms' that would speed up by the end of the scene.
• The process of finding and inputting suitable booms was problematic for us as we were for a while we couldn't find a short, powerful boom. Eventually we found a suitable one on youtube and downloaded this. I then had to drag these 'booms' into the right place in the montage scene.
• This process was problematic as I had to do this by ear and so made a few errors which was time consuming. 
• I had to make sure each boom would arrive slightly faster than the previous one in order to increase the tension for the ending. After trial and error I had finally finished a piece that successfully raised the tension and that didn't sound strange.

Filming

Green screen

• One scene I filmed was the green screen where the protagonist first sees her imaginary friend.
• We firstly needed to buy the green screen, after doing this we set up the filming area by hanging the cloth on a black flat. I then shortened the tripod to adjust the height of the camera as our protagonist was seated on the floor. 
• We had to ensure the green screen was correctly lit and there weren't many shadows as this would have posed a problem for us later on in editing. I had to check that the green screen was okay through the camera and ensure that our protagonist's head was correctly framed.
• Because editing green screen can be problematic if the footage is incorrect, I drew a line where our actor acting as the protagonist wasn't allowed to pass. This was halfway down the screen, the other side was reserved for the imaginary friend.
• I had to keep refilming this scene as occasionally our actor would push the boundries and if we merged these images together the two characters would have been overlapping.
• The framing of the camera was key, as was ensuring that the camera was steady and at the same angle each time. This was because if the two sets of footage were different, it would have been obvious when we merged them together, as we learnt from our trial.

Bathroom scene

• I also filmed the scene within the bathroom where the protagonist drags her makeup down her face. This location was problematic due to the mirror, as in many shots the camera could be seen. I had to experiment with different angles to get the most effective shot without being seen in the mirror. This required the use of the tripod to get the camera at the right height and I had to use the zoom and focus function.

Bedroom scene

• I filmed parts of the bedroom scene, this being an over the shoulder shot of the protagonist watching the antagonist in her bedroom and a tilt of the protagonist on her laptop. These scenes were also difficult to film as often the camera was caught in the reflection of the laptop screen, and so I had to experiment with different angles in order to avoid this. 
• Additionally I also used the focus function to focus in and out of the footage on the laptop screen, which made the footage more dynamic and interesting overall as it wasn't just a boring shot. 

Time lapse

• I also filmed the time lapse. This required setting up the camera on the tripod and ensuring that the protagonist was correctly framed and you could see her. 
• Although this was simple, we had to refilm this many times as the camera often died or various other problem occurred such as the sun disappearing over a cloud or a dog bumping the tripod. 
• We finally got our time lapse after refilming it 4 times, and were pleased with the result. 

Poster

Initial Design

• I also had a big part in making and developing our poster. To begin with we experimented with different effects available on photoshop. I took pictures of our protagonist and positioned her so that in some it looked like her imaginary friend was looming over her. 
• The example shown on the left is a close up picture of our protagonist's eye, I then also took a picture of our protagonist screaming with her hands up, this meant that edited together it would look as if she was trapped inside herself.
• After experimenting with effects we decided as a group that we would like the inclusion of our imaginary friend in the poster. We first learnt about this when editing the images I had taken together. 

Our poster creation and development

• When it came to making our actual poster we had a few pictures to choose from. We decided to use the images taken in the loft as the lighting and overall message of the image suited our genre perfectly. 
• The images were merged together and I then took control of the typography on the poster. When creating the tagline I duplicated the sentence and staggered the two lines, I then used 'field blur' on photoshop to blur the bottom line so that it created a shadow. Although this was effective, it made the text much harder to read from afar and this had to be undone. 
• I then created the cinematic information at the bottom, this gave the poster a more professional look and so the poster was more believable. 

Evaluation Question 2- Natasha

2) How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks.

Typography

Creation
All of our media products combine by using the same typography, which creates an iconic, reoccurring theme and a cohesive package. When we first began designing our typography, we came across one font in particular that we liked, called 'Midnight', as it came across as handwritten, and was quite bold, which would be eye catching on our poster. Then, we manipulated the font by using the smudge tool on photoshop, to put across the impression that the writing was being smudged down the page, which would reinforce the meaning of the title, 'Unhinged.' However, when evaluating the font, we decided that it did not suit the psychological aspects of our trailer, coming across too much like the typography for a slasher.

Development 

Therefore, we went back to the drawing board to create our current typography. Took inspiration from The typography that we theb created used the ‘OldStyle’ font, which we manipulated to turn the letters, ’N’ and ‘E’ backwards, reinforcing the warped, psychological genre, creating an effective overall typography which we used on each of our products, to back up the genre. We also used a 'wind' effect as this made the typography look worn, which suited the setting of the poster and yet again suited the genre. We thought that the typography would suit the poster image, the website image and would also look good on our trailer, creating an effective promotional package.

Final Changes- Poster 

We decided to change the layout for the wording by splitting up the word into three parts and layering them on top of each other, which made them even more effective in unison. This had a much larger impact and was also much more noticeable on first viewing. I also used the ‘Rotate’ tool so that I could make certain letters crooked which came across as though the letters had fallen onto one another, suiting the psychological genre much better.

Final Changes- Website

After we changed the typography for the poster, we realised that the layout was different on the website, which meant that together they did not create a cohesive package. In the poster and website, we initially used different layouts for the typography, with the title being laid out across three lines for the poster and only one line for the website. However, we decided that this meant the typography did not become memorable. Therefore, we created a transparent image of the typography as it was laid out on the poster which we could then import onto the website. 

Colour Scheme

Research

When researching into promotional packages for real media products, we realised that it was important for the all the products to have a cohesive colour scheme. We did a lot of research into different colour schemes of psychological thrillers to see what conventions there were in terms of colour. We found that more traditional films, like 'Psycho', used a minimalistic palette predominantly using black and white across the package. However, more modern films such as 'Enter The Void' made use of a wide range of bright colours. We liked this idea as it connoted surrealism, which is a big theme in our trailer. However, we decided to settle on a darker colour scheme to make sure that the tone of the product was serious, to suit the narrative. 



Development- trailer

Therefore, when planning the colour scheme of the trailer as a whole, we thought it was important to make sure that the overall product came across as fairly dark. When editing many scenes from our trailer, we made use of the colour board, which allowed us to deepen the shadows of the video clip. On top of this, I used visual effects such as 'Cool Tones' and 'Day into Night', to make some footage darker, and with cooler bluer tones. We thought this suited the psychological genre much better.

Development- Poster

When planning the image for our poster, we had to keep in mind that we needed to suit the colour scheme of the trailer. We thought it would be effective to take the photograph in the loft. Many of our initial trials were not successful mainly due to the high key lighting. We thought that by taking the photography in the loft, we could avoid any natural light. This meant that we could buy a lamp which we placed in the corner of the room to create our own light source. This was effective as it meant that the shadows in the image were prominent and creepy, suiting our genre.



Development- Website

After editing the images of the actor together into the same image, we found that it was important to match the colours in the website image to the colour scheme of the poster. The palette we used in the poster, was made up of a dramatic contrast between dark and bright colours which suited the surreal genre. We edited the website image so that the exposure was low, and the contrast and saturation of the image was higher, which made the dark colours appear much darker. On top of this, we used an effect which faded the edges of the photography to black, reinforcing the dark colour scheme. 

Narrative (Imaginary Character)

Research

When researching promotional packages as a whole, we found that an important convention was for each product to reinforce the narrative of the film. This was mainly done by including the key characters from the narrative. In our case, this meant that we were inclined to include the protagonist and her imaginary friend in each of our products. However, this was a difficult task due to them both being portrayed by the same actor. 



Development- Trailer

All of our media products reinforce the narrative by including the imaginary character, a major part of our psychological genre. In our trailer, we did this by using chroma keying, which allowed us to feature the actor twice in the same shot. Therefore, we could feature shots such as a full-shot of the protagonist pacing, with her imaginary self looming in the background. This showed the audience it was this imaginary character that was causing the protagonist a significant amount of suffering. Although this was one of our initial ideas for our trailer, the actual process of creating the chroma keying scenes seemed overwhelming at first, and we had to undergo a lot of research before we knew how to do it. In the planning stages, we had to decide whether we wanted the scenes to seem realistic or surreal. However, we decided that it would be too complicated to create a realistic chroma keying scene as we would have to incorporate real life props in front of a background so that is came across as professional. Therefore, we chose backgrounds which would give them impression that the audience is seeing into the protagonist's mind, which created a more effective product overall as it suited the psychological genre.


Development- Poster

In the poster, we included the imaginary character by layering a picture of the protagonist tied to a chair on top of a shot of the imaginary character standing up behind her. The editing process was difficult for this image as the lighting was unconventional as it came from the right, rahter than above or in front. This meant that when layering one image on top of the other, we had to make sure that tha shadows did not seem unrealistic, and had to meticulously erase the shadow of the foreground image so that it did not inflict upon the background. However, the overall poster image was effective as it depicted certain important aspects of our trailer. For example, it portrayed the imaginary character as having complete power over the protagonist, and showed through the mise en scene -ropes and tape- that she is trapped by the character, and thus her illness.

Development- Website

Finally, in the website image we also included the imaginary character, featuring her in the distant background whilst in the foreground there was a close-up profile shot of the protagonist. However, the lighting of the image was not initially very effective as we made the mistake of doing the photoshoot during the day. This meant that the lighting was high-key (see image), not suiting the narrative or genre of the trailer very well. Therefore, it was important to edit the colouring and lighting of the image before utilising it as the background. Altogether this process was worth it as the outcome was an effective promotional package with each product reinforcing an important element of the narrative, and creating a reoccurring theme. 

Surrealism

Trailer

An important element of the main trailer is surrealism, shown mainly through the chroma keying scenes which show the deteriorating state of the protagonist’s mind. In the initial stages of our trailer, we were doubtful about how to create the chroma keying scenes, however after a great deal of research we found that the best software to use was Final Cut Pro. We recorded many trial versions before finally editing these scenes, by importing our footage, selecting the keying effect and then importing a background for the foreground footage. We decided to reinforce the idea of surrealism by making use of unrealistic background images. For instance, in one shot we use an image of pills as the background. We also used visual effects on the background image to increase the saturation of the colours, which made the image have more of an impact, and also make them slighty distorted, using the effects, 'Bad TV' and, 'Earthquake.' This gave a surreal edge to the overall scene.

Website

We utilise this element in our website image by making the background image a GIF. This allowed us to make the image flicker between the full shot of the imaginary character in the background to a shot of a black shadow in the background. At first, this was not as effective as the GIF flickered too fast, which made it look a bit too programmed, which removed the effect that we wanted. Therefore, we changed the GIF timeline so that it flickered to black less frequently, making it seem more like a trick of the eye. This gives the impression that the character isn’t real, giving a surreal psychological effect which combines with the trailer effectively. 

Evaluation Question 4- Natasha

4) How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages.

Photoshop

Image

First attempt

After confirming our decision to use the protagonist in our poster, to meet the conventions of a poster. I attempted trials at photoshop, to develop my skills and see what techniques I could apply to images. We initially tried to make an image of the protagonist holding a book over her face, with the title of the film written on the book. We made an effort to make the book a psychology book as it showed images of the brain, which suited the genre. On top of this, we thought that the inclusion of a book would connote the thoughtful personality of the protagonist, and by not including her face we could suggest that the protagonist is mentally stable.

Development

Later on, I again attempted creating an image on photoshop. I layered an image of the protagonist over another image of the protagonist's eye, to connote how she is trapped within her own illness. Although the idea was effective, I was unskilled at this point and so the overall product was not very professional and came across as quite comical. However, we did decide that the method of layering was effective and decided to use it in our final product. The colouring of the photograph also did not suit the genre.

Final Product

I used Photoshop to create the final poster image. After completing the photo shoot in the kidnap/loft location, I decided to combine the two images of the protagonist and the imaginary character. I opened up the image of the imaginary character standing up and then layered on top of the image the image of the protagonist tied to the chair by rope with tape over her mouth, making sure than the layering was smooth. This was effective as it gives the audience a good insight into the plot, while using effective mise en scene -location and props- and still leaving space for the title and tagline. 

Typography 

First attempt

Once we had decided on our typography, I laid it onto the poster. It was important to make the title visible and also make best use of the space. I decided to put it next to the protagonist's head on the poster, as the lighting was high key in this area, meaning the black font was explicitly visible- which is important on a poster. However, looking back I did not like how the words were squashed up on the image, as this did not have much of an impact and made the poster overall look weak.

Final Product

On photoshop, I also edited the typography of the title so that it suited the poster much better. I did this by splitting the title up into three lines, which allowed me to make each letter much larger, using up the space available much more. This had a much larger impact and was also much more noticeable on first viewing. I also used the ‘Rotate’ tool so that I could make certain letters crooked which came across as though the letters had fallen onto one another, suiting the psychological genre much better.

Camerawork 

First Attempt

I also made use of a more advanced camera during the production stages of our trailer in comparison to our previous pieces. To begin with, I was unskilled with the camera, and used simple, static shots on the tripod. This was successful when filming basic full shots of the characters, however did not leave us with much to work with in the post-production stage. As our genre is psychological, it was important for us to be creative in our camera work to depict the state of the protagonist's mind. 

Development

After practising with the camera extensively, I learnt a couple of effective techniques. This allowed me to be more creative in the shots that I took during certain scenes. For example, in the shot where the victim -who is getting dressed- is being stalked via webcam. I filmed a close-up shot of her pulling on her tights which pulls focus from the background to the foreground, something which was impossible beforehand and is an effective shot. However, this still didn't allow us to explore the mental illness of our protagonist. 

Further Development

Therefore, I researched different camera techniques even more. In the final scene, where the victim wakes up to find she has been kidnapped, I tried to be creative in the filming process by using an aerial shot from above the victim which pans down her body to reveal she has been tied up, also pulling in and out of focus to give a more surreal effect. I commonly put the camera out of focus to depict a POV shot, which shows the instability of the protagonist's mind. I also learnt how to change the exposure and colour levels of the shot, which allowed me to make the scene more low-key, which suited the ambiance we wanted. 

iMovie 

First attempt

I also made use of the software iMovie to compile all of the different scenes together. This meant that I could import the footage into the software, split clips and order them in the right order. I also was able to import soundtracks and sound effects. This was useful in the creation of a sequence, however did not allow me to be very creative in the post-production process. 

Final Product

Therefore, I explored the software a bit more, to see what capabilities it had in store. During the post-production stage I made use of different transitions on the software to help create an effective eye-line match by inserting a black slide for 0.2 seconds to mimic a blinking effect during a POV shot, which was filmed unfocused to replicate the protagonist’s hazy state of mind. We also changed the exposure and saturation of some scenes, to help create the ambiance that we wanted.

Final Cut Pro

First attempt 

When I first started to use Final Cut Pro, it was overwhelming due to the wider variation of effects and techniques that were available in comparison to iMovie. I played around with the fast and slow motion effects, which were effective for the genre as they allowed me to alter the pace of the footage and make the clips seem distorted. I created many short video clips to practise with the software. However, the creativity in the first attempts was somewhat lacking. 

Final Product

I used Final Cut Pro alongside iMovie in our final product throughout the post-production stage to make use of the different available visual effects. In the final scene, which features the victim waking up to find that she has been kidnapped, I particularly used these effects. On all of the shots, I used the ‘Cool Tones’ effect, which made the footage considerably more low-key, suiting the genre much better and coming across as more chilling and scary, which is what we wanted. I also used the ‘Trails’ effect on the POV shot of the bloody hand as this made the shadows and highlights of the shots delayed, coming across as though the the victim is seeing double, which suits the scene well as she is just waking up. Finally, I used the ‘Bad TV’ effect in several areas, for example in one shot I used this effect for 0.4 seconds at the start and then 0.9 seconds at the end, to build tension for the climax. These visual effects helped improve the overall effectiveness of the trailer, seeming more professional. 

Chroma Keying

Research 

To begin with, I was unsure of how to go about the chroma keying scenes, as this was an area that was completely new to me. I did extensive research into what we would need, and what software would be best. I also planned what backgrounds to use, coming up with a variation of options to use including a moving video of a hypnotic spiral or a static image of a prison cell. However, I decided the best option would be to trial the software and different backgrounds. 

First Attempt

For our first attempt, to see how to use the background, I used a temporary green screen to film against and also used a phone camera without a tripod. This meant that when I edited the two videos of the same actor together, the result was extremely unprofessional, shaky and also the colour of the green screen we used meant there were holes in the footage. However, from this process I learnt how to simply use the software, so I was happy with the outcome. 

Development

I then tried the process again, however using a tripod and the professional camera, to get a high quality result. This time the outcome was better than previously, however I had trouble inputting a background, as the video I wanted to use was a different resolution to the foreground footage. However, I then overcame this by coming across the 'crop' tool which allowed me to crop a video clip to the right size for the framing. 

Final Product

I finally worked out how to effectively use chroma keying by filming several scenes in front of a green screen with a tripod. For our final product, I filmed the shot of the protagonist on the laptop in front of the green screen and then later on used the ‘Keying’ effect on Final Cut Pro to change the background to footage I recorded of the victim’s Facebook profile. This meant that we could effectively show the audience what was on the laptop screen in a creative and innovative way. We also used the chroma keying to show the surreal state of the protagonist’s mind by changing the background to an intimate close-up shot of her screaming to a shot of pills, which explicitly shows how she is overwhelmed by her illness, making the narrative clear and allowing the audience to sympathise with her. The overall product was innovative and successful.